Optical pickup device and optical disc apparatus

ABSTRACT

Optical pickup device including: semiconductor laser diode emitting optical flux; objective lens converging flux emitted from the diode and radiating flux to an optical disc; diffraction grating branching an optical flux reflected from the disc; and a photodetector receiving flux branched by the grating and has a plurality of light receiving parts, wherein: the grating has areas A, B and C; among diffracted beams diffracted by a track of the optical disc, only a 0-th order diffracted beam becomes incident upon area A, and 0-th and ±1-st order diffracted beams become incident upon area B; the photodetector detects a reproduction signal from optical fluxes diffracted in areas A, B and C; the plurality of light receiving parts which detect the +1-st order diffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in area A are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular or parallel to a track direction of the disc.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/354,021, filedJan. 15, 2009. This application relates to and claims priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2008-009984, filed on Jan. 21, 2008. Theentirety of the contents and subject matter of all of the above isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an optical pickup device and an opticaldisc apparatus.

As a background art in this technical field, there is, for example,JP-A-2006-344344. This publication describes that “a desired signal isacquired at high precision from an optical disc having a plurality ofrecording layers”. There is also, for example, JP-A-2006-344380. Thispublication describes that “even if a writable optical storage mediumhaving two information recording planes is used, a tracking signalhaving a small offset is detected” Further, for example, TechnicalReport of IEICE, CPM2005-149 (2005-10, p. 33, FIGS. 4 and 5) describesthat “a tracking photodetector is disposed in an area where there is nostray light.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

JP-A-2006-344344 adopts a structure that an optical beam reflected froman optical disc is narrowed by a focusing lens and transmitted throughtwo quarter wavelength plates and a polarizing device, and the broadenedlight is narrowed by a focusing lens to be radiated to a detector. Thereis, therefore, a concern that an optical detection system is complicatedand its size becomes large. According to JP-A-2006-344380, a diffractiongrating for forming three spots is disposed ahead of a laser lightsource, and one main spot and two sub-spots are radiated on a disc.There is, therefore, a concern that an optical efficiency of the mainbeam necessary for recording lowers.

Technical Report of IEICE, CPM2005-149 (2005-10), p33 describes astructure that a tracking photodetector is disposed outside stray lightfrom another layer of a focusing optical beam generated around afocusing photodetector, and that light diffracted in the central area ofa hologram device is flown outside stray light from the other layer.There is therefore a fear that the size of the photodetector becomeslarge.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical pickupdevice capable of obtaining stable servo signals forrecording/reproducing by an information recording medium having aplurality of information recording layers, and an optical disc apparatusmounting the optical pickup device of this type.

The above-described object can be achieved by the inventions describedin the appended claims.

According to the present invention it becomes possible to provide anoptical pickup device capable of obtaining stable servo signals forrecording/reproducing by an information recording medium having aplurality of information recording parts, and an optical disc apparatusmounting the optical pickup device of this type.

These and other features, objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of an optical pickupdevice and an optical disc according a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an optical system according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a diffraction grating according to the firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a light receiving part according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing the shapes of stray light by a duallayer disc according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams showing the behavior of stray light from onelayer among two layers.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are diagrams showing the behavior of stray light from onelayer among two layers.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another light receiving part according tothe first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing other diffraction gratingsaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a light receiving part according to asecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing the shapes of stray light by adual layer disc according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another light receiving part according tothe second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a light receiving part according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams showing the shapes of stray lightaccording to the third embodiment.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are diagrams showing the shapes of stray light by adual layer disc according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an optical reproducing apparatusaccording to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an optical recording/reproducingapparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereunder.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows an example of an optical pickup device according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

An optical pickup device 1 is structured in such a manner that thedevice can be driven in a Rad direction (see FIG. 3) of an optical disc100 by a drive mechanism 7 shown in FIG. 1. An objective lens 2 ismounted on an actuator 5 of the optical pickup device, and radiateslight to the optical disc. Light emitted from the objective lens 2 formsa spot on the optical disc 100 and is reflected from the optical disc100. By detecting this reflected light, a focusing error signal and atracking error signal are generated.

FIG. 2 shows an optical system of the optical pickup device describedabove. Although BD (Blu-ray Disc) will be described, other recordingmethods may also be used including HD (High Definition) DVD.

An optical beam having a wavelength of about 405 nm is emitted asradiation light from a semiconductor laser diode 50. The optical beamemitted from the semiconductor laser diode 50 is reflected by a beamsplitter 52. A portion of the optical beam transmits through the beamsplitter 52 and becomes incident upon a front monitor 53. In recordinginformation in a writable type optical disc such as BD-RE (Blu-ray DiscRewritable) and BD-R (Blu-ray Disc Recordable), it is generally requiredto control a light amount of semiconductor laser diode at highprecision. To this end, while a signal is recorded in a writable typeoptical disc, the front monitor 53 detects a change in the light amountof the semiconductor laser diode 50 and feeds this change back to adrive circuit (not shown) of the semiconductor laser diode 50. In thismanner, it becomes possible to monitor the light amount on an opticaldisc.

The optical beam reflected at the beam splitter 52 is converted into agenerally parallel optical beam by a collimating lens 51. The opticalbeam transmitted through the collimating lens 51 becomes incident upon abeam expander 54. The beam expander 54 is used for compensating aspherical aberration caused by a thickness error of a cover layer of theoptical disc 100, by changing a divergence/convergence state of theoptical beam. The optical beam emitted from the beam expander 54 isreflected by a reflection mirror 55, transmitted through a quarterwavelength plate 56, and thereafter converged upon the optical disc 100by the objective lens 2 mounted on the actuator 5.

The optical beam reflected at the optical disc 100 transmits through theobjective lens 2, quarter wavelength plate 56, reflection mirror 55,beam expander 54 collimating lens 51 and beam splitter 52, and becomesincident upon a diffraction grating 11. A light flux of the optical beamis divided into a plurality of areas by the diffraction grating 11, andeach light flux propagates along a direction different for each area andis focused upon a photodetector 10. A plurality of light receiving partsare formed on the photodetector 10, and each light flux divided by thediffraction grating 11 is radiated to each light receiving part. Thephotodetector 10 outputs electrical signals each corresponding to thelight amount received in each light receiving part, and these electricalsignals are processed to generate an RF signal as a reproduction signal,and a focusing error signal and a tracking error signal.

The diffraction grating 11 shown in FIG. 2 has a pattern such as shownin FIG. 3. A solid line indicates a border of each area, a two-dot chainline indicates a circumferential shape of a light flux of the laserbeam, and hatched areas indicate a push-pull pattern formed by a trackof the optical disc. Referring to FIG. 3, an area A is constituted ofareas De, Df, Dg and Dh, an area B is constituted of areas Da, Db, Dcand Dd, and an area C is constituted of an area Di. The areas A and Bare line symmetrical relative to a center axis, and also linesymmetrical relative to an axis perpendicular to the center axis. Asshown in FIG. 3, the center axis is an axis passing the center of thearea Di and being parallel to a Tan direction. A spectral ratio of thearea of the diffraction grating 11 other than the Di area is, forexample, (0-th order light): (+1-st order light): (−1-st orderlight)=0:7:3, and a spectral ratio of the area Di is, (0-th orderlight): (+1-st order light): (−1-st order light)=0:1:0. Thephotodetector 10 has a pattern such as shown in FIG. 4.

In this pattern, +1-st order optical beams diffracted in the areas Da,Db, Dc, Dd, De, Df, Dg, Dh and Di of the diffraction grating 11 becomeincident upon light receiving parts a1, b1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1, h1 andi1 of the photodetector shown in FIGS. 4, and −1-st order optical beamsbecome incident upon light receiving parts r, s, t, u, y, v, e2, f2, g2and h2.

Signals A1, B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, G1, H1, I1, R, S, T, U, V, E2, H2, F2,G2 and H2 obtained from the light receiving parts a1, b1, c1, d1, e1,f1, g1, h1, i1, r, s, t, u, v, e2, f2, g2 and h2 are calculated by thefollowing equations to generate a focusing error signal (FES), atracking error signal (TES) and an RF signal.

FES=(R+T+V)−(S+U)

TES=[(A1+B1+E1+F1)−(C1+D1+G1+H1)]−kt×[(E2+F2)−(G2+H2)]

RF=A1+B1+C1+D1+E1+F1+G1+H1+I1+E2+F2+G2+H2   Equations 1

Here kt is a coefficient for not making a tracking error signal generateDC components when the objective lens displaces. Its focusing errordetection method is the knife edge method which is publicly known andthe description thereof is omitted.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show relationships between signal beams and stray lightfrom other layers during recording/reproducing a dual layer disc. FIG.5A shows the recording/reproducing of a layer 0, and FIG. 5B shows therecording/reproducing of a layer 1. For optical beams other than anoptical beam diffracted in the Di area of the diffraction grating 11, itcan be understood that a signal beam and stray light from another layerare not superposed on the light receiving part. A signal I1 detected atthe light receiving part i1 is not used for detecting a tracking errorsignal, and is used only for detecting a reproduction signal. Therefore,even if there is stray light, there is no practical problem.

In actual signal detection, recording/reproducing is performed while theobjective lens follows a track on the disc. Therefore, the objectivelens displaces along the radial direction (hereinafter called Raddirection). As the objective lens displaces, only stray componentsdisplace on the photodetector. Therefore, as the objective lensdisplaces, there is a possibility that stray light from another layerbecomes incident upon a light receiving part of a photodetector if ithas a useful light receiving pattern. In contrast, the present inventionincreases a displacement allowance amount of the objective lens, byoptimizing the photodetector 10 relative to the pattern of thediffraction grating 11. It is required to consider how a signal beam andstray light are separated relative to a lens displacement direction.This point will be described hereunder.

FIGS. 6A to 6C show an optical beam diffracted in the diffractiongrating area Dh and becomes incident upon the light receiving part h1.FIGS. 7A to 7C show an optical beam diffracted in the diffractiongrating area Dd and becomes incident upon the light receiving part d1.FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C are classified in accordance with a state of anoptical spot of the disc, FIG. 6B shows a state that the optical spot isin-focus on the disc, and FIGS. 6A and 6C show a defocus state. Therelationships shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C are not dependent on theposition of the light receiving part. The reason why defocus isexplained here is that stray light can be interpreted as defocus lightreflected at the position other than the focus position.

It can be understood from comparison between FIGS. 6A to 6C and FIGS. 7Ato 7C that a motion direction by defocus changes. An optical beamdiffracted in Dh shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C moves along a track directionof the disc (hereinafter called Tan direction) due to defocus. Incontrast, an optical beam diffracted in Dd shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C movesalong the Rad direction. The motion direction due to defocus becomesdifferent because the optical beam defocuses in point symmetry relativeto the optical beam center 15 on the diffraction grading. It isimportant from this reason that a stray light averting method is changeddepending upon the light receiving part.

If the diffraction grating areas are spaced in the Tan directionrelative to the optical beam center 15 (in this case, areas Dh, De, Dfand Dg), it is desired to avert stray light in the Tan direction. Byaverting stray light in this manner, even if the objective lensdisplaces in the Rad direction, stray light will not enter thephotodetector. By aligning the light receiving parts for detectingoptical beams diffracted in the diffraction grating areas Dh, De, Df andDg, along the Rad direction, it becomes possible to minimize theinfluence of stray light diffracted in other areas.

If diffraction grating areas are spaced in the Rad direction relative tothe optical beam center 15 (in this case, areas Da, Db, Dc and Dd), itis desired to skip stray light in the Rad direction. Accordingly, byaligning the light receiving parts for detecting optical beamsdiffracted in the diffraction grating areas Da, Db, Dc and Dd, along theTan direction, it becomes possible to minimize the influence of straylight diffracted in other areas and to make the photodetector compact.If the light beams diffracted in the diffraction grating areas Da, Db,Dc and Dd are aligned along the Rad direction, there arises a problemthat when the objective lens is displaced in the Rad direction, straylight becomes incident upon the light receiving part.

As described above, by making the photodetector 10 to have the patternsuch as shown in FIG. 4, it becomes possible to separate effectively asignal beam and stray light and make compact the photodetector. Althoughthe light receiving parts a1, b1, c1 and d1 are disposed in the Raddirection in a straight line and e1, f1, g1, h1 and e2, f2, g2, h2 aredisposed in the Rad direction in a straight line, it is needless to saythat similar effects can be obtained if two or more light receivingparts are disposed side by side in the Tan or Rad direction as shown inFIG. 8 even if the light receiving parts are not disposed in the Tan orRad direction in a straight line. The diffraction grating 11 may havethe patterns such as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. Further in thisembodiment, although the diffraction grating is disposed such thattransmission through the beam splitter occurs before, it may be disposedsuch that transmission through the beam splitter after, by using apolarized diffraction grating as the diffraction grating 11. Although adual layer optical disc is used in the description, an optical dischaving more layers may also be used.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 10 shows a photodetector of an optical system of an optical pickupdevice according to the second embodiment of the present invention.Different points from the first embodiment reside in that thediffraction direction and the diffraction angle of each area of thediffraction grating 11 are different and the layout of light receivingparts of the photodetector 10 is different, and other structures aresimilar to those of the first embodiment.

The diffraction grating 11 has a pattern such as shown in FIG. 3. Asolid line indicates a border of each area, a two-dot chain lineindicates a circumferential shape of an optical flux of the laser beam,and hatched areas indicate a push-pull pattern formed by a track of theoptical disc. A spectral ratio of the area of the diffraction grating 11other than the Di area is, for example, (0-th order light): (+1-st orderlight): (−1-st order light)=0:7:3, and a spectral ratio of the area Diis, (0-th order light): (+1-st order light): (−1-st order light)=0:1:0.The photodetector 10 has a pattern such as shown in FIG. 10.

In this pattern, +1-st order optical beams diffracted in the areas Da,Db, Dc, Dd, De, Df, Dg, Dh and Di of the diffraction grating 11 becomeincident upon light receiving parts a1, b1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1, h1 andi1 of the photodetector shown in FIGS. 4, and −1-st order optical beamsbecome incident upon light receiving parts r, s, t, u, e2, f2, g2 andh2.

Signals A1, B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, G1, H1, I1, R, S, T, U, E2, F2, G2 andH2 obtained from the light receiving parts a1, b1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1,h1, i1, r, s, t, u, v, e2, f2, g2 and h2 are calculated by the followingequations to generate a focusing error signal, a tracking error signaland an RF signal.

FES=(R+U)−(S+T)

TES=[(A1+B1+E1+F1)−(C1+D1+G1+H1)]−kt×[(E2+F2)−(G2+H2)]

RF=A1+B1+C1+D1+E1+F1+G1+H1+I1+E2+F2+G2+H2   Equations 2

Here kt is a coefficient for not making a tracking error signal togenerate DC components when the objective lens displaces. Its focusingerror detection method is the knife edge method which is publicly knownand the description thereof is omitted.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show relationships between signal beams and straylight from other layers during recording/reproducing a dual layer disc.FIG. 11A shows recording/reproducing of layer 0, and FIG. 11B showsrecording/reproducing of a layer 1. For optical beams other than anoptical beam diffracted in the Di area of the diffraction grating 11, itcan be understood that the signal beams and stray light from anotherlayer are not superposed on the light receiving part. A signal I1detected at the light receiving part i1 is not used for detecting atracking error signal, and is used only for detecting a reproductionsignal. Therefore, even if there is stray light, there is no practicalproblem.

As described in the first embodiment, since it is desired to alignoptical beams diffracted in the diffraction grating areas Da, Db, Dc andDd in the Tan direction, the light receiving parts a1, b1, c1 and d1 arealigned in the Tan direction in a straight line. Further, the lightreceiving parts e1, f1, g1, h1 and the light receiving parts e2, f2, g2and h2 are disposed in the Rad direction. Thus, the displacementallowance amount of the objective lens is increased by disposing thelight receiving parts different for each area of the diffractiongrating. Furthermore, with this layout, the photodetector can be madecompact.

As described above, by making the photodetector 10 to have the patternsuch as shown in FIG. 10, it becomes possible to separate effectivelythe signal beam and stray light. Although the light receiving parts el,f1, g1 and h1 and the light receiving parts e2, f2, g2 and h2 aredisposed in the Rad direction in a straight line, it is needless to saythat similar effects can be obtained even if the light receiving partsa1, b1, c1 and d1 are disposed in the Tan direction and the lightreceiving parts e1, h1, e2 and h2 are disposed in the Rad direction. Thediffraction grating may have the patterns such as shown in FIGS. 9A and9B. Further in this embodiment, although the diffraction grating isdisposed such that transmission through the beam splitter occurs before,it may be disposed such that transmission through the beam splitteroccurs after, by using a polarized diffraction grating as thediffraction grating 11. Although a dual layer optical disc is used inthe description, an optical disc having more layers may also be used.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 13 shows a photodetector of an optical system of an optical pickupdevice according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Adifferent point from the first embodiment resides in that the distancebetween the objective lens and diffraction grating 11 shown in FIG. 2 ismade longer, and other structures are similar to those of the firstembodiment. As the distance between the objective lens and diffractiongrating 11 becomes long, the influence of stray light changes with arecording/reproducing layer. This is because stray light becomesconvergence light during L0 recording/reproducing and becomes divergencelight during L1 recording/reproducing so that a large change in the beamdiameter of stray light on the diffraction grating 11 becomes effective.

For example, it is assumed that the beam diameters of the signal beamand stray light on the diffraction grating 11 are such as shown in FIGS.14A and 14B. FIG. 14A shows a state during L0 recording/reproducing, andFIG. 14B shows a state during L1 recording/reproducing. In FIGS. 14A and14B, a signal beam is indicated by a two-dot chain line, and stray lightis indicated by a one-dot chain line 46. For optical beams other than anoptical beam diffracted in the Di area of the diffraction grating 11, itcan be understood that the signal beam and stray light from anotherlayer are not superposed on the light receiving part. A signal I1detected at the light receiving part i1 is not used for detecting atracking error signal, and is used only for detecting a reproductionsignal. Therefore, even if there is stray light, there is no practicalproblem.

Also with this structure, it is possible to separate stray light andmake compact the photodetector, by aligning the light receiving partsa1, b1, c1 and d1 in the Tan direction in a straight line, and the lightreceiving parts e1, f1, g1, h1 and e2, f2, g2, h2 in the Rad directionin a straight line, as shown in FIG. 13.

As described above, even if the distance between the objective lens anddiffraction grating 11 becomes long, it becomes possible to separateeffectively the signal beam and stray light, by making the photodetector10 have the pattern such as shown in FIG. 10. The signals can bedetected through calculations similar to the first embodiment. Thediffraction grating 11 may have the patterns such as shown in FIGS. 9Aand 9B. Further in this embodiment, although the diffraction grating isdisposed such that transmission through the beam splitter occurs before,it may be disposed such that transmission through the beam splitteroccurs after, by using a polarized diffraction grating as thediffraction grating 11. Although a dual layer optical disc is used inthe description, an optical disc having more layers may also be used.

Fourth Embodiment

In the fourth embodiment, description will be made on an opticalreproducing apparatus mounting the optical pickup device 1. FIG. 16shows a schematic structure of the optical reproducing apparatus. Theoptical pickup device 1 has a mechanism capable of driving an opticaldisc 100 along the Rad direction, the position of the mechanism beingcontrolled in accordance with an access control signal from an accesscontrol circuit 172.

A laser lighting circuit 177 supplies a predetermined laser diode drivecurrent to a semiconductor laser diode in the optical pickup device 1,and the semiconductor laser diode emits a laser beam having apredetermined light amount corresponding to reproduction. The laserlighting circuit 177 may be assembled in the optical pickup device 1.

A signal output from a photodetector 10 in the optical pickup device 1is sent to a servo signal generator circuit 174 and an informationsignal reproducing circuit 175. The serve signal generator circuit 174generates servo signals such as a focusing error signal, a trackingerror signal and a tilt control signal in accordance with signals fromthe photodetector 10. In accordance with the servo signals, an actuatorin the optical pickup device 1 is driven via an actuator drive circuit173 to control the position of an objective lens.

The information signal reproducing circuit 175 reproduces an informationsignal recorded in the optical disc 100, in accordance with signals fromthe photodetector 10.

Some of signals obtained by the servo signal generator circuit 174 andinformation signal reproducing circuit 175 are sent to a control circuit176. Connected to the control circuit 176 are a spindle motor drivecircuit 171, the access control circuit 172, the servo signal generatorcircuit 174, the laser lighting circuit 177, a spherical aberrationcorrection device drive circuit 179 and the like. The control circuitperforms rotation control of a spindle motor 180 for rotating theoptical disc 100, control of access direction and access position, servocontrol of the objective lens, control of emission amount of thesemiconductor laser diode in the optical pickup device 1, correction ofa spherical aberration caused by a different disc substrate thickness,and other controls.

Fifth Embodiment

In the fifth embodiment, description will be made on an opticalrecording/reproducing apparatus mounting the optical pickup device 1.FIG. 17 shows a schematic structure of the optical recording/reproducingapparatus. Different points of this apparatus from the optical recordingapparatus described with reference to FIG. 16 reside in the addition ofa function of writing desired information in the optical disc 100, byproviding an information signal recording circuit 178 between thecontrol circuit 176 and laser lighting circuit 177, and performinglighting control of the laser lighting circuit 177 in accordance with arecording control signal from the information signal recording circuit178.

Although the embodiments of the optical pickup device and opticalinformation recording/reproducing apparatus of the invention have beendescribed above, the present invention is not limited to theabove-described embodiments, but various improvements and modificationsare possible in a range not departing from the gist of the presentinvention.

1. (canceled)
 2. An optical pickup device adapted to interface with amulti-layer optical disc having a plurality of recording layers,comprising: a semiconductor laser diode which emits an optical flux; anobjective lens which converges the optical flux emitted from saidsemiconductor laser diode and radiates the optical flux to an opticaldisc; an optical branching element which branches an optical fluxreflected from said optical disc; and a photodetector which receives anoptical flux branched by said optical branching element and has aplurality of light receiving parts, wherein: said optical branchingelement has three areas A, B and C; said area C includes a center ofsaid optical branching element; said area A is spaced in a trackdirection of the optical disc relative to said area C; said area B isspaced in a radial direction of the optical disc relative to said areaC; among diffracted beams diffracted by a track of said optical disc,only a 0-th order diffracted beam diffracted on a track of said opticaldisc becomes incident upon said areas A, and 0-th and ±1-st orderdiffracted beams diffracted on a track of said optical disc becomeincident upon said area B; said photodetector detects a reproductionsignal from optical fluxes diffracted in said areas A, B and C; saidplurality of light receiving parts which detect the +1-st orderdiffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area Aof said optical branching element to which only said 0-th orderdiffracted beam diffracted on a track of said optical disc are disposedseparated from light receiving planes which receive diffracted beamsfrom other areas and aligned in a direction substantially perpendicularto a direction corresponding to the track of said optical disc.
 3. Theoptical pickup device according to claim 2, wherein four light receivingparts are used for detecting the +1-st order diffracted beam or the−1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area A of said opticalbranching element.
 4. The optical pickup device according to claim 2,wherein four light receiving parts are used for detecting the +1-storder diffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in saidarea B of said optical branching element.
 5. The optical pickup deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein: a focusing error signal is detected fromthe −1-st order diffracted beam diffracted in said areas B of saidoptical branching element; a tracking error signal is detected from the+1-st order diffracted beam diffracted in said areas A and B of saidoptical branching element; an offset correction signal of the trackingerror signal is detected from the −1-st order diffracted beam diffractedin said area A of said optical branching element; and a reproductionsignal is detected from a sum of +1-st order diffracted beam diffractedin said areas A, B and C.
 6. The optical pickup device according toclaim 2, wherein: said area A of said optical branching element is linesymmetric relative to a center axis passing a center of said area C andline symmetric relative to an axis in a direction perpendicular to saidcenter axis; and said area B of said optical branching element is linesymmetric relative to said center axis and line symmetric relative to anaxis in a direction perpendicular to said center axis.
 7. The opticalpickup device according to claim 2, wherein one light receiving part isused for detecting the +1-st order diffracted beam or the −1-stdiffracted beam diffracted in said area C of said optical branchingelement.
 8. An optical pickup device comprising: a semiconductor laserdiode which emits an optical flux; an objective lens which converges theoptical flux emitted from said semiconductor laser diode and radiatesthe optical flux to an optical disc; an optical branching element whichbranches an optical flux reflected from said optical disc; and aphotodetector which receives an optical flux branched by said opticalbranching element and has a plurality of light receiving parts, wherein:said optical branching element has three areas A, B and C; said area Cincludes a center of said optical branching element; said area A isspaced in a track direction of the optical disc relative to said area C;said area B is spaced in a radial direction of the optical disc relativeto said area C; among diffracted beams diffracted by a track of saidoptical disc, only a 0-th order diffracted beam becomes incident uponsaid area A, and 0-th and ±1-st order diffracted beams become incidentupon said area B; said photodetector detects a reproduction signal fromoptical fluxes diffracted in said areas A, B and C; said plurality oflight receiving parts which detect the +1-st order diffracted beam orthe −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area A of said opticalbranching element are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicularto a direction corresponding to the track of said optical disc; and saidplurality of light receiving parts which detect the +1-st orderdiffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area Bof said optical branching element are aligned in a directionsubstantially parallel to a direction corresponding to the track of saidoptical disc.
 9. The optical pickup device according to claim 8, whereinfour light receiving parts are used for detecting the +1-st orderdiffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area Aof said optical branching element.
 10. The optical pickup deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein four light receiving parts are used fordetecting the +1-st order diffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beamdiffracted in said area B of said optical branching element.
 11. Theoptical pickup device according to claim 8, wherein: a focusing errorsignal is detected from the −1-st order diffracted beam diffracted insaid area B of said optical branching element; a tracking error signalis detected from the +1-st order diffracted beams diffracted in saidareas A and B of said optical branching element; an offset correctionsignal of the tracking error signal is detected from the −1-st orderdiffracted beams diffracted in said area A of said optical branchingelement; and a reproduction signal is detected from a sum of +1-st orderdiffracted beams diffracted in said areas A, B and C.
 12. The opticalpickup device according to claim 8, wherein: said area A of said opticalbranching element is line symmetric relative to a center axis passing acenter of said area C and line symmetric relative to an axis in adirection perpendicular to said center axis; and said area B of saidoptical branching element is line symmetric relative to said center axisand line symmetric relative to an axis in a direction perpendicular tosaid center axis.
 13. The optical pickup device according to claim 8,wherein one light receiving part is used for detecting the +1-st orderdiffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area Cof said optical branching element.
 14. An optical disc apparatuscomprising: an optical pickup device including: a semiconductor laserdiode which emits an optical flux; an objective lens which converges theoptical flux emitted from said semiconductor laser diode and radiatesthe optical flux to an optical disc; an optical branching element whichbranches an optical flux reflected from said optical disc; and aphotodetector which receives an optical flux branched by said opticalbranching element and has a plurality of light receiving parts, wherein:said optical branching element has three areas A, B and C; said area Cincludes a center of said optical branching element; said area A isspaced in a track direction of the optical disc relative to said area C;said area B is spaced in a radial direction of the optical disc relativeto said area C; among diffracted beams diffracted by a track of saidoptical disc, only a 0-th order diffracted beam becomes incident uponsaid area A, and 0-th and ±1-st order diffracted beams become incidentupon said area B; said photodetector detects a reproduction signal fromoptical fluxes diffracted in said areas A, B and C; said plurality oflight receiving parts which detect the +1-st order diffracted beam orthe −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area A of said opticalbranching element are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicularto or substantially parallel to a direction corresponding to the trackof said optical disc; a laser lighting circuit which drives saidsemiconductor laser diode in said optical pickup device; a servo signalgenerator circuit which generates a focusing error signal and a trackingerror signal by using signals detected by said photodetector of saidoptical pickup device; and an information signal reproducing circuitwhich reproduces an information signal recorded in said optical disc.15. An optical disc apparatus comprising: an optical pickup deviceincluding: a semiconductor laser diode which emits an optical flux; anobjective lens which converges the optical flux emitted from saidsemiconductor laser diode and radiates the optical flux to an opticaldisc; an optical branching element which branches an optical fluxreflected from said optical disc; and a photodetector which receives anoptical flux branched by said optical branching element and has aplurality of light receiving parts, wherein: said optical branchingelement has three areas A, B and C; said area C includes a center ofsaid optical branching element; said area A is spaced in a trackdirection of the optical disc relative to said area C; said area B isspaced in a radial direction of the optical disc relative to said areaC; among diffracted beams diffracted by a track of said optical disc,only a 0-th order diffracted beam becomes incident upon said areas A,and 0-th and ±1-st order diffracted beams become incident upon said areaB; said photodetector detects a reproduction signal from optical fluxesdiffracted in said areas A, B and C; said plurality of light receivingparts which detect the +1-st order diffracted beam or the −1-stdiffracted beam diffracted in said area A of said optical branchingelement are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to adirection corresponding to the track of said optical disc; and saidplurality of light receiving parts which detect the +1-st orderdiffracted beam or the −1-st diffracted beam diffracted in said area Bof said optical branching element are disposed in a directionsubstantially parallel to a direction corresponding to the track of saidoptical disc; a laser lighting circuit which drives said semiconductorlaser diode in said optical pickup device; a servo signal generatorcircuit which generates a focusing error signal and a tracking errorsignal by using signals detected by said photodetector of said opticalpickup device; and an information signal reproducing circuit whichreproduces an information signal recorded in said optical disc.